In September 2016, NewTechKids will begin teaching a new, after-school club format called the 21st Century Skills Club. Two Clubs will launch in Amsterdam South East and Amsterdam New West. The format was developed by Stichting NewTechKids, a non-profit foundation which develops, tests and improves computer science curriculum, lessons and teaching materials and trains primary school teachers. NewTechKids is teaching the Clubs on behalf of Stichting NewTechKids. The Club will feature weekly, three-hour lessons. During the Club, primary school-aged children will learn about computer science

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NewTechKids is gearing up for our Fall activities and we want to hear from schools which are interested in our computer science and 21st century skills programs. We teach primary school children (4-6, 7-9 and 10-12 years) fundamental computer science and programming concepts which underlie all devices, programming languages, apps and technology. Here's how schools can partner with NewTechKids to bring computer science education to their students: hire NewTechKids teachers to teach computer science and programming

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While children should rest and have fun during the summer, it's also important to keep them engaged in learning while they are out of school. NewTechKids has developed a series of bootcamps for children ages 7-9 and 10-12 years which will expose them to computer science education in a fun, interactive way while helping them strengthen their thinking, problem-solving and collaboration skills. The bootcamps will take place at Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA)/Amsterdam Municipal Library, Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam

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Deborah Carter, one of NewTechKids' co-founders, will be getting into bed with some interesting people on Friday, April 15th. She'll be joining 50 other global change makers during Bed Talk, an event organised by The Student Hotel in Amsterdam, and inspired by the lie-in staged by John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in 1969. Bed Talks is a free event focused on making the world a better place. She'll be speaking during three sessions with

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NewTechKids is organizing a special five-week teacher training pilot program which will prepare primary school teachers to introduce computer science and coding concepts to students in groups 1-8 (ages 4-12). The program will be taught in the context of 21st century skills related to critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, creativity and collaboration. The program takes place from May 11 - June 8, 2016 in Amsterdam. NewTechKids is partnering with the Amsterdam Municipal Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam) to host the

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NewTechKids believes that it's important to find new ways to teach computer science which bring out the creativity in children. That's why we love to integrate arts education into our computer science programs. We were super thrilled to teach two teacher training workshops today as part of the cultural education event organised by MOCCA, an education advisory organization based in Amsterdam. During the workshops held at Theater Meervaart, we taught our 'Intro to Coding and Computational Thinking'

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Computers and digital technology systems are embedded in all kinds of devices around us. Last week, Quby, an Amsterdam-based company, helped NewTechKids demonstrate this to students in our 'Systems Thinking and Hardware' bootcamp. Quby has developed Toon, a smart thermostat that enables consumers to manage their energy consumption more efficiently. Toon was developed for Eneco, a Dutch energy company. Working with NewTechKids, Dimitris Stafylarakis and Vassilis Aretakis (Quby developers) co-developed a lesson focused on the concept of feedback and its importance for technology systems which process data. Students learned

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NewTechKids has been invited by MOCCA to host two teacher training sessions during its Cultural Education Conference on April 6th at the Meervaart Theatre in Amsterdam. The conference is part of MOCCA's 2016 Month of Cultural Education. MOCCA is an Amsterdam organization which advises schools and cultural institutions in the design and implementation of cultural education. During the sessions, NewTechKids will train primary school teachers to give one of its lessons which combines technology and computer science education with

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On Monday, February 8th, NewTechKids co-hosted a brainstorm session with Amsterdam's new Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. Still under construction, the museum provided the ideal blank slate for re-imagining how primary school students engage with museum content. Participants developed ideas on how to develop school programs for museums which leverage technology to create engaging experiences. The goal was to develop ideas for experiences which encourage students (8-12 years) to discover new information, think critically, and

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Today was a historic day for computer science education and a huge validation for NewTechKids. President Obama announced the 'Computer Science for All' initiative which will bring computer science education to all students in America, beginning in primary school. President Obama is calling for US$4 billion to be allocated in the 2017 budget to Congress to significantly increase the teaching of computer science, namely by developing teaching materials, providing teacher training and building effective regional

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